Boston Tea Party

Image

Background Notes

During the night of December 16, 1773, a group of Boston citizens,
protesting the Tea Act (1773) and disguised as Mohawk Indians, went to
Griffin's Wharf and boarded the tea ship Dartmouth. Working
throughout
the night the disciplined group of about fifty men dumped 342 chests of
tea into Boston harbor. [1]

This act of defiance known as the Boston Tea Party would prove disastrous
to the port of Boston. When news of this party reached England, an
enraged Parliament, passed four Coercive Acts, referred to by the
Colonists as "the Intolerable Acts," the first of which was the Boston
Port Bill. This law closed the port of Boston until the town agreed to
pay for the tea ruined during the Boston Tea Party. This action crippled
the New England economy. [2]

This illustration comes from an early edition of The History of
England
by
the Scottish philosopher and writer, David Hume (1711- 1776).